Maladict

Camp did a bad, bad thing and tampered with Maladict's coffee in a mean way. In other words, Maladict has completely reverted to vampirism. Now, this means that he might go all snarly and vicious on you. Fights are A++, I love them and Mal is a lot more likely to get involved in them like this! But what's more likely is that he'll go after Likely Victims -- someone alone and vulnerable (young ladies who sleep in skimpy nightclothes with their... uh, cabin windows open are especially delectable!) -- for a bite. This could go a couple of ways. There might be some stalking and a chase involved. Or he might just happen to start chatting you up and try to win you over, when suddenly you notice that you're alone and he's awfully close and-!

In other words, he's just out for blood. And you know what they say about flies and honey...


Appearance/Personality

If your character has met Maladict before, they might notice a few things different about him!

-Eyes: ...must be just a trick of the light, but you'd swear that you saw them glowing a little red there...

-Teeth: Fangs are more prominent.

-Clothes: Ditching the military uniform in favor of some more traditional garb. Black, aristocratic-looking.

-Personality: This is partially due to a powers/abilities, thing, but he might seem more... charming than usual. But then again... he's always been like that... hasn't... he....?


Powers/Abilities

Being fully vamp-y increases the magnitude of Maladict's abilities.

-Strength: Can easily pick up and toss a full-grown man with one hand. Has a punch that would knock somebody across a room. Breaking bones with his bare hands is easy business.

-Speed: Faster than can be seen with the human eye. This applies to both running and movement in general (e.g. throwing multiple punches).

-Stealth: Will seem to appear out of nowhere! This is partly due to his speed, but he's also just... well, stealthy. Can move silently, seems to just blend in with the shadows, somehow. Hell, seems to bring shadows with him, somehow.

-Senses: Extremely good night vision! Basically, superhuman sight and hearing. Also, an extremely good Feeling. (You know that Feeling that you're being watched or that someone is behind you? That's the Feeling -- only it's strong and accurate to the point of being an actual sense for him.)

-Persuasion: Mind power! Not very intrusive, but it's the effect of someone you admire, think is very cool, etc. giving an opinion and you finding yourself agreeing ("...oh. Oh! Why didn't I see it that way before? Of course!"). Sort of like the Feeling thing, it's an intangible but real something (in this case, charisma) being strengthened and solidifed into a power.

-Healing: Depending on the injury, it might take him up to a minute to heal something, but he can pretty much heal from anything, including having body parts cut off. This includes his head. The main thing with losing his head is that depending on where the parts ended up, he might have problems finding it for himself.

If it seems as though he will be/is being overpowered in a fight, he'll attempt to flee the scene. For the sake of not raping time/space too badly, I'd like to request that he somehow gets away or is left to revive (i.e. not killed completely) unless things are pretty much played out and it's time for a final kill.


Weaknesses/Killing

-Light: Bright, intense light (e.g. a camera flash) will turn him into a pile of dust! However, for the sake of the vampire post, the little safeguard he has has been filled with Moogle blood... which saves himself. In other words, unlimited regenerations. It takes enough time for him to re-form for somebody with good speed to be able to escape, though.

-Sound: Taking this from Jumanji weekend, because of Mal's super-hearing, he has a weakness toward sonic attacks.

-Holy Stuff: ...uh, yeah. The usual. |D

-The Final Kill: Making the final kill requires several things. First, staking through the heart (naturally). Second, cutting off the head (of course). Third... well, this is sort of a regional thing, y'see. The one that we're most familiar with is "stuff garlic in the mouth." But in some places in Discworld, you need an orange. Other places, a lime. So, Vimes and I somehow decided that what would be needed to end the madness here is a bad lemon -- that is to say, grab your stake, your saw and your porny fanfic, and let's go vampire hunting!

Clothing/Appearance: Maladict usually wears his uniform -- red, white and blue, echoes of the Napoleonic army, slightly on the shabby side (it was from army inventory, after all), but, due to the Power of Vampire Style, the shabbiness somehow manages to look chic. However, since he was carrying his gear when he ended up in camp, he also has his normal clothes with him: black silk shirt, black brocade vest, black overcoat, black trousers, black cravat and black boots. Basically, goth evening dress, only lacking the sense of being a poser who wishes he were a vampire because. Well.

Canon tells us that Mal is thin, pale-skinned (noticeably so -- I say not quite albino-level paleness, but close), dark-haired (black, I'm assuming) and short (which I've translated as 5'5"). Non-canonly, his eyes are black, but take on a reddish hue when he begins to go into caffeine withdrawal. His hair is short, but not severely so; he could star in a shampoo commercial. Ears are slightly pointed at the top. Canine teeth are noticeably sharp but not too terribly long. Nails are short but look almost manicured.

Habits/Mannerisms/Body Language: His body language speaks of confidence, ease and self-assurance. He's that guy who looks so cool, you just want to smack him, only that would make you look even more uncool. Generally, he looks like he has everything figured out (and what he figured out was that everything is a-okay for him). He doesn't slouch, but there's no ramrod-straight posture for him, either -- he's a casual leaner. Walls, doorways, trees, countertops -- he is master of the casual lean.

If he's taking you into his confidence (in reality or in play), he'll get into your personal space, but not too badly -- there might be an arm over the shoulders if you're short enough, but it's likely that there's no actual physical contact taking place. Overally, he sense of personal space is pretty normal, nothing to write home about.

He actually isn't too overdramatic in normal circumstances (grand entrances and first impressions and the like are another story). There might be some casual hand gestures in the course of a conversation. He's a cool guy, though, and cool guys don't flail around.

Current Residence: Hospital basement. The basement-y part of the basement, not the part with the quarantine ward. On the opposite side of the room from the rumoured laundry machines, he keeps his stuff, which includes a coffee/cappucino machine. It's very dark down there normally (he keeps the lights off), so you wouldn't see him when first entering the room. He sleeps hanging from the ceiling.

Typical Daily Routine: Extremely variable. During these colder, less sunny months, he keeps more of a normal schedule, getting up around ten in the morning and going to bed around one or two in the morning. He'll catch meals in the mess hall, but otherwise, he basically hangs around and just does whatever. During the summer, though, he tends to go nocturnal -- probably gets up at around dinnertime (in order to get some food from the mess hall) and goes to bed a little after dawn.

Favorite Haunts: Mostly the hospital. He also tends to take his time in the mess hall. An occasional trip to the library wouldn't be out of place.

Making the Bed? N/A!

First of all, in plain view, a brief note on why I am keeping Mal's spoiler as a spoiler. It isn't something that will affect 98% of his interactions. For the vast, vast majority of the time, it has no bearing on anything at all. In fact, I feel sort of silly for making it seem like such a big deal. Because really? It's not.

However, what it does have bearing on is if you decide to read Monstrous Regiment. Which, if you haven't, you should, so that you can app people from my canon. For one thing, Maladict's spoiler is not revealed until near the end of the book, so it would spoil you for a considerable portion of the canon. For another thing, despite not being revealed until the end, I think that it would also set you on the road to being semi-spoiled for a large part of one of the major themes/events of the book. (People who have read MR, what do you think?)

So, it's mainly an OOC/meta issue for me. And really? Unless you are one of a certain set of people in camp, it's probably "better" if you don't know. And if you are one of those certain people and/or are in a situation where it comes up, I'll ask you OOC if it's all right to spoil you. Really, if you plan on reading the book and would rather not know, feel free to say so, and I'll conjure up something.

Aaaand, it's LJ-cut time. Below lies both SPOILER (for Mal and MR in general) and some of my speculation on it.

( In case I wasn't pounding this into the ground enough? SPOILER GOES HERE LOLZ )

Ahaha, wow this was disorganised and incoherent. Hopefully a bit informational, though. For me, at the very least. Be a little sad if I wasn't helped by my own essaying, given that it's probably not good enough to help anyone else. Okay! Brain goes to bed now!

[Voting took place here. I apologize for my having been topped by formatting in my original app.]

Character: Maladict
Series: Discworld by Terry Pratchett (specifically, Monstrous Regiment)
Age: appears to be about 18 (His age is not given in the book, but Maladict
is part of a group of soldiers aged approximately 15 to
19, and his age is never pointed out as something exceptional.)

Canon: At first glance, the corporal of the so-called "Monstrous Regiment" of
the tiny, pugnacious and generally backwards nation of Borogravia’s run-
down army doesn’t appear very threatening. Not especially tall, rather slim,
dressed like a gentleman, pale of skin. Actually, very pale of skin. And then
there are the very pointy teeth.

Maladict is a vampire, possibly the most badass race in all of Discworld. In
fact, Maladict is so badass, it can begin to get a little annoying (nothing is
more irritating than when a person is always so superior acting and you can’t
call them on it because they pretty much are superior), until you get to know
him a little better. Despite his effortlessly cool style, he actually has a pretty
warm personality. (He also is not without his weaknesses.) He’s intelligent,
sarcastic, unable to keep from mouthing off and possessing of a rather morbid
sense of humour. And while he is a member of the League of Temperance
(members have sworn off the drinking of human blood; motto: "Not One
Drop"), he has not the slightest qualm over threatening to open a can of
vampiric whup-ass on someone for some reason (such as, say, getting served
better beer) with the very real ability and intention to follow through on that
threat.

A final word of warning: when he says "I’d kill for a cup of coffee," unless you
don’t mind having him putting a serious damper on your social life - and all
other aspects of your life, actually, biological aspect included - you might
want to dig out the Folgers for him mighty quick.

SPOILER BUT KINDA SORTA AN IMPORTANT THING AT LEAST FOR
SOME PEOPLE HERE

( SPOILER )

Good day to all!

Despite the lively zombie infestation from which this place is
suffering - honestly, I have never seen so many lurching about at
once, let alone performing organised sacrificial rituals (are they
really necessary? I know many who would have liked to have eaten that goat)
- I am sure that you are all civilized and decent individuals, and that
creating and maintaining friendly relations would be in the
best interests of all of us, wouldn’t you agree? After all, what’s
the sense of unnecessary antagonism when at war? I’m sure that
someone I know will attempt - or has attempted - to kill someone you know
at some point in time, or vice versa, but let us live in
the moment, hm? Yes, I’m glad that you think so, too.

So in the interest of nurturing these beautiful relationships of
ours, I humbly request that you either release my compatriots
from wherever you are holding them or provide me with
information regarding their whereabouts. You appear to be
civilians, so you could not be holding them as prisoners of war.
As such, if you are planning to hand them over to the Alliance -
well, I am positive that such wonderful and intelligent people as
yourselves wouldn’t think of doing such a thing.

Oh, and you’ve probably spotted that I’m a Black Ribboner. I
assure you, I hold strictly to the motto of the League - not one
drop of human blood for me! I hope that you are tolerant people
who will accept that a vampire can make such a change in his life.
Tolerance is an excellent thing. For instance, when I was walking
through the woods, I was confronted by a large purple creature. It
attempted to show me some form of affection, which, I regret to
say, I did not tolerate. However, he proved to be a better man
(figuratively speaking, of course, as I have yet to see a man that
hairy, and that’s including werewolves) than me, as he so
graciously tolerated my ripping his head off! I strive to achieve
such tolerance in my life!

So! If you will lead me to my comrades, that will be much
appreciated.

Also, provide me with coffee. I know it is here. Someone spill
the beans.

---

There were also a few semi-lengthy comments written to convince wibblers. ^_^

To blackandwhiteox, who asked what kind of crack Mal would bring to camp:

Because camp is, well, camp, my goal is to base the crack in personality rather than, uh, biological make-up, etc., because in camp, things like that are always a-changin'. Plus, many of the campers come from extreme settings, so what might be a big deal in one world is nothing special in another.

Personality-wise, Maladict is, mm, I hesitate to say big with the male posturing, because it isn't overwhelming, but it's definitely a constant factor. While he'll respect a hierarchy that he's voluntarily put himself into, he'll definitely poke at his superiors if he feels they're incompetant and he'll also attempt to establish himself in an uncle/big brother role among his peers, which I can see as both making him some friends and grating on some nerves (yay, conflict!).

Vampires are arrogant, even if it isn't explicit. He doesn't feel the need to assert his superiority constantly, because he's confident that he simply is one of the big fish in the lake pond. Or, rather, was, back in Discworld. That worldview might be shaken up some here.

His sense of humour, as mentioned, is a little black. To paraphrase, OOCly (don't have the book on hand *fails*): "This is so amusing! You know how they tell the underlings to 'eat the documents if you've been captured' so that it doesn't fall into enemy hands? Well -- ahaha! -- I guess they don't tell them that they're also making sure that you don't fall into enemy hands! That must be a droll little surprise! Poisoned documents! Check out the frothing at the mouth!" He's not especially malicious or cruel, just... a tad twisted at times.

However, there is also considerable crack regarding simply what he is. He might have given up drinking b- bl- blaaa- blood (please don't ask him to say the word too much!), but he still sleeps hanging upside-down. In a fight, for all of his physical skills, the person who could probably take him out most quickly would be Akiha (or anyone else with a camera) -- one flash, and you have a pile of Maladict-dust on the ground.

And I cannot overemphasize his coffee addiction. It's hardcore. He'll begin hallucinating if he's gone for too long without coffee. And vampire hallucinations are contagious, so. In addition to hallucinations, there's also just general crazy involved.

Overall, he's pretty amiable -- not too much of a spaz, not overly antagonistic. Still, for all of his competance, he sometimes bites off more than he can chew, and he definitely can rub people the wrong way.

Plus, I think he'd really like Snarky Bitch Day.

...also ended up convincing marezydoats with that. ^_^

For baby_endless, who, seeing Mal as sleeker than he came across in the app, asked to be poked for a re-vote:

Hello. ^_^

Yeah, the sleekness turned out to be a problem that I hadn't been expecting when I first got the idea. XD I'm new to this heavily dialogue-based style of RPing, which makes characters whom I picture as being quite physical sort of hard.

The weird part about doing a sample "intro" for Mal is the difference that I see between introductory!Mal and settled-in!Mal. He's smooth, but he's definitely showier and more confrontational when he's "making his entrance," so to speak. I was aiming for a level of macho showcasing similar to when he's, ah, beer bargaining with One Eyebrow in the beginning, but with the added edge of coffee deprivation and being deeper into war.

I would have liked for it to be more subtle, but we get a lot of Mal through descriptions of his actions and physicality (which are lost in the form/style of app sample entries) and he does tend to lose the subtle when addressing larger groups (e.g. his address to the captured soldiers, where he basically says "Good evening! Poke me the wrong way, and I'll tear all of your throats out!").

Anything else you'd like to know, just ask. ^_^


And that's that.